Alibaba’s Jack Ma denies speculation of 8/8 IPO date

While some reports say Alibaba has chosen the lucky date of Aug. 8 (lucky in China, at least) for its New York trading debut, the company’s co-founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma appears to be in the dark about this “decision.”

At a news conference in China’s southern city of Guangzhou on Thursday, Ma said he had no idea about any date for the launch, according to state-run Beijing Youth Daily.

“I saw the news on the Internet that Alibaba is targeting Aug. 8 for its IPO. I hadn’t thought about it. I really don’t know,” Ma responded. “And I don’t know how to answer your question.”

It was Ma’s first public response to earlier media reports that he and Joe Tsai, another Alibaba co-founder, both saw Aug. 8 as an auspicious date to to launch the shares, as 8 is a homophone in Chinese with a word meaning “fortune.”

The reports also quoted unnamed sources as saying that the company’s management wants to use BABA as its ticker — in addition to being part of the name “Alibaba,” “BABA” is also Chinese for “Eight Eight.”

The Hangzhou-based Internet giant filed in early May for an U.S. IPO that could be one of the largest in history. The company said in its IPO filing that it’s aiming to raise $1 billion, but markets expect it could raise $15 billion to $20 billion.

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